Mark Vallance, MV’s Development Officer, was the man pulling the strings behind the scenes to get this Camp happening.

“It’s been a long five months getting this Camp to happen and now that it has been and gone I couldn’t be happier with the way it all turned out,” Mark said.

“The riders were great throughout the three days and took part in everything we threw at them. Whether it be the 7am starts out in Albert Park being put through their paces by Stephen Mion of FitMoto or getting in front of the camera for an interview on MXTV, they were great!” Mark added.

All of the riders were at the Parkview Hotel early Monday morning and after a quick welcome by Mark, Merv Williams, Chris Gray and Peta Thomas they were sent straight out for their first training session of the Camp.

The rest of the day was spent learning about nutrition and planning your weekly meals (also with Stephen Mion) and also learning about fitness techniques and recovery (with Tim Cole of KTM Australia).

Tuesday had another early morning start for the riders as they met Stephen next to Albert Park Lake at 7am for another physical session. The riders then tested their knowledge of the rules of their discipline with one of our lead coaches for the Camp, Chris Gray.

Sport Psychology (with Jacqui Louder of Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre) offered the riders the chance to study how they thought during an event. Fellow lead coach Merv Williams then spoke to the riders about different coaching techniques. It wasn’t all learning, however, with the riders taking a break and enjoyed a game of basketball and went for a dip the swimming pool at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

On the final day of the Camp the riders were once again out at Albert Park at 7am to be tested out one final time by Stephen. When they returned it was time to go through Media & Sponsorship (with Lee Hogan) for the day and Lee had a few surprises in store.

Helping Lee out with teaching the riders about sponsorship was Gary Marquis (GM of Monza Imports) who gave the riders a bit of an idea on what organisations were looking for when selecting riders to sponsor and also gave tips on what to include in a resume or sponsorship proposal.

In fact, one of the riders from the Camp has already lined up a meeting with a potential sponsor using some of the information provided by Gary! Brendan Bell (MXTV) was also on hand to film the riders as Lee interviewed them and helped them build up their confidence for public speaking.

“It’s great to see the feedback from each of the riders on Facebook so far and hear about the enjoyment they had at the Camp, as well as how much information they took away from it. I’ve even had a parent come in and say thanks for the three days!” Mark said.

Motorcycling Victoria CEO, Wayne Holdsworth, also noted how great this Camp has been for the future of the sport in Victoria.

“Motorcycling Victoria are proud to have hosted an extremely successful Elite Rider Training Camp throughout the past week. The commitment to providing a pathway for our younger riders that we hope will represent Australia at the highest level is, and will remain, strong from Motorcycling Victoria’s perspective,” Wayne said.

“I couldn’t have made the Camp work without the great work from all of our guest presenters, the Parkview Hotel or Merv Williams and Chris Gray who were the lead coaches for the Camp or Peta Thomas – so thank you to each of you!” Mark said.

“My plan from here is that we will be following these riders closely over the next year and they will all be invited to a more advanced Training Camp next year, while we will also introduce some new riders to the Camp they have just completed,” Mark added.

To keep up to date with the riders who have been a part of this year’s Elite Rider Training Camp and for information on future Camps as it happens, head to the newly made Facebook Page – Motorcycling Victoria Elite Rider Training Camp.